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Inventive solutions for developing country problems include rural refrigeration systems which enable food suppliers to reliably store and preserve perishable items without the need for expensive and polluting diesel generators.

Developing Country Entrepreneurship

In developing countries we see that advances in science and technology are improving the lives of the poor by uncovering new ways to affordably diagnose and treat medical conditions, supporting agricultural productivity and preventing food loss, increasing access to energy for off-grid communities, and improving sanitation and waste management.

To maximize the impact of these advances, the Foundation supports invention-based entrepreneurship, empowering local inventors and entrepreneurs to develop scalable solutions to problems that meet the needs of underserved populations.

Recognizing that new products and businesses alone will not fully address social and environmental challenges in developing countries, we believe it is critical to approach our work with a systems view and cultivate local ecosystems that best enable inventions to create impact in a sustainable way, at scale. To achieve this, we work with partners globally and in the US to:

Fund local “business enablers” (incubators and accelerators) with well-defined pipelines of startup companies and the resources to help them build pathways to growth and scale. We do this in markets such as India and Kenya where there is a strong entrepreneurial climate and invention ecosystem. Key partners include:

Villgro India and Villgro Kenya – Providing business mentorship, training, and seed-stage investments to strengthen early stage invention-based enterprises in India and Kenya.

Village Capital – Accelerating the growth of promising hardware-based businesses in East Africa.

Identify new areas of the entrepreneurial ecosystem where the Foundation’s financial or non-financial support could be catalytic in scaling enterprises or jumpstarting an industry (e.g. local manufacturing, distribution, service providers policy and advocacy). Select partners include:

Gearbox – Creating a physical prototyping space for the design, engineering, and invention of products that address unmet needs in Kenya.

Impact Spotlight

Lemelson program officer Kenneth Turner explains how we have a lot yet to learn about the role incubators and accelerators play in solving urgent global problems. Fortunately, efforts are already underway.

Villgro provides seed funding, mentoring, coaching, and more for innovation-based businesses. These aren’t just any businesses. They are enterprises that improve the lives of India’s poorest people and solve pressing problems with exciting new products.